Closer

How to spell closer

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce closer

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does closer mean?

1. adjectiveNearer in distance, time, or relationship.
2. nounA person or thing that closes something, such as a salesperson who finalises deals or the pitcher who ends a baseball game.

Closer in a sentence

• adjective

  The new flat is much closer to my office than the old one.

• noun

  The firm hired her as a closer because she sealed every contract.

• adjective

  As the deadline drew closer, the team worked longer hours.

• noun

  The manager sent in his best closer to protect the slim lead.

Where does closer come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word splits into two distinct readings that share a written form but not a sound. Both descend from the verb and adjective 'close', which English took from Old French 'clos', itself from the Latin 'claudere', meaning 'to shut'. The adjective sense, pronounced with a soft 's', originally described something tightly shut and so without gaps; from 'shut up tight' it drifted to 'near at hand', and the comparative 'closer' simply means 'nearer'. The other reading, pronounced with a 'z', is the verb 'close' plus the agent suffix '-er', naming a person or thing that closes; it grew popular in business jargon for someone who finalises deals and in baseball for the relief pitcher who finishes a game. The trap for writers is not the spelling itself but remembering that one spelling carries two unrelated sounds.

How the word is built

• clos- (from close, near or to shut)
• -er (comparative suffix or agent suffix)